Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum downplayed the significance of President Donald Trump sharing secret information with Russia, telling CNN on Tuesday that it is not a cataclysmic event and that the fallout from it can be managed.

Santorum said that it was still too early to know exactly what all the facts of the story are, but "if the president did what The Washington Post suggested, I would make the argument that he overstepped his bounds and probably shouldn't have done that."

However, he then added, "Is this a cataclysmic event? No, I don't believe it is."

When asked if the incident showed that Trump was reckless in his duties as president, especially considering that it was a topic of national security and intelligence given to the U.S. by an ally, the former Pennsylvania senator said, "Am I concerned about our allies and the implication of this information going out there? Of course, I'm concerned about it. But I think it is manageable."

Santorum said he believed what is being borne out by the incident is that "the American public voted for someone who is an outsider, someone who was very mistrustful of institutions here in Washington, D.C., and in some respect had contempt for some of these institutions… You have a president who is not a conformist by any stretch of the imagination."

Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum downplayed the significance of President Donald Trump sharing secret information with Russia, telling CNN on Tuesday that it is not a cataclysmic event and that the fallout from it can be managed.